


Chocolate Hearts

by A_C_Dalon



Category: Blue Bloods (TV), Criminal Minds (US TV), Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst, Comfort Food, Cooking, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Heartache, Heartbreak, Love Triangles, Multi, Multiple Crossovers, Romance, Sad and Happy, Slow Burn, Smut, Tears, There Can Be Only One, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28777215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_C_Dalon/pseuds/A_C_Dalon
Summary: As the youngest child of Frank Reagan, Andy Reagan, had high expectations on her shoulders and high standards to hold herself up to. She's not a police officer, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have a standard to meet.However when Mike Dodds, the man who broke her heart 5 years ago returns to New York City, Andy seems to have a hard time processing the difference between proper behavior and proper revenge. Between the mischief, the mayhem, and the madness - will Andy Reagan and Mike Dodds be able to find their way back to love? Before time on their love- runs out?(Blue Bloods x SVU:Law&Order x Criminal Minds Fanfic)
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s), Danny Reagan/Linda Reagan, Edit "Eddie" Janko/Jamie Reagan, Mike Dodds/Original Female Character(s), Olivia Benson/Ed Tucker, Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. (Prologue) Sunday Dinners

**Prologue**

* * *

Frank Reagan sat at the table with his arms crossed. Most of his children were still sitting at the table along with his father at the end and his pregnant daughter-in-law to his left. His grand daughter had departed to watch TV in the living room. All the rest of them sat in silence as the sound of running water ran in the kitchen sink behind the patriarch's head.

"Should we say something to her?" Jaime, the youngest of his sons, asked. He was the first to speak up. His eyes wandered towards the girl standing at the sink with her elbows deep in dishes. She was staring at the window absentmindedly. "She's been washing the same dish for fifteen minutes and she barely spoke a word during dinner."

Erin, his eldest daughter, shrugged. Her high cheeks bones held a mixed expression of worry for the girl at the sink and disdain for whatever but her in this state. "It isn't really like her. It's usually getting her to stop talking which is the hard part." A small huff in her breath as she too glanced into the kitchen.

Linda, Frank's daughter-in-law, leaned forward, decidedly participating in the family gossip, "When I went to the bathroom. I heard her talking to Mike... she sounded angry."

A low grumble came from across Jaime at the end of the table. Joe was Frank's middle child and prone to all sorts of manic, impulsive behavior. He was popping his knuckles on one hand with a cross look on his face, "I'll kill that kid if he did anything funny with her." His over protective nature getting the absolute best out of him. Jaime's foot jerked out and knocked into Joe's shin causing a low pitched whine out of Joe's mouth. He glared at Jaime and then Frank glared at Joe and that was that.

"Andy told me... his dad wants him to enlist." Erin said suddenly. Her voice was no louder than a whisper as she spoke. All of their glances flickered towards her with concern. Every man at this table, aside from Jaime, had done their due diligence and served in the United States Army. The knew the price was a hefty one to pay.

However, shifty glances were traded across the table. Frank pressed his lips together as all of them tap their fingers, unsure of how to address the issue at hand. Frank turned around in his chair. The same dish in her hand and she was still staring out the window with invisible thoughts racing around her head.

"I'll do it."

All eyes turned towards the eldest son sitting to the left of his father. Danny had been resting his chin on his knuckles and watching her this entire time. He finally stood up and made his way over to the kitchen. His steps were gentle and cautious. He didn't want that plate in her hands to be thrown at his head.

The girl at the sink was Andrea Reagan, the youngest and last child of Frank and Mary Reagan. However, she preferred to go by Andy and that's what she answered to. Her eyes were glued to the clouds past the window panes and her hands were scrubbing slow circular motions on the porcelain plate in her hand.

During annual Sunday Dinner with her family, she had barely uttered a single word during the entire meal- creating a confusing shadow considering her usual bright and chatty demeanor which was especially prevalent during Sunday Dinners. Andy was young, younger than all of her siblings and at least four years younger than the youngest son of the Reagan family. She was the only Reagan to not follow their father's footsteps into law enforcement.

And believe me, it affected their treatment of her greatly. Especially Danny.

Danny always had a soft spot for Andy. With eight years between the two of them, Andy was just a baby in his eyes. To this day, he could still recall that goofy little smile she gave him from the baby bassinet when she came back from the hospital. She grabbed his finger with her chubby little hand and had Danny wrapped all the way around her finger from the start. Though, Danny would never admit it. He liked making fun of her too much.

Danny leaned against the door frame with a sigh, "Was it Mike?"

A pause... "I don't want to talk about it Danny." She finally said. Her voice was clouded as she finally put the plate down and moved to the next one. Her breathe sounded hitched in her throat. Her hands shaking as she tried to press the sponge to plate with little to no success. her shoulder shook as she continued to fight the flood of tears threatening to bring down her walls. She didn't want to cry. Not now. Not here.

Danny took a step forward, "Erin said.... he's thinking about joining the army."

The words hung in the air for a moment as though Andy had to take the time to read them. Her shoulders began to shake as the flood walls broke open. Andy burst into a sob. Instantaneously she dropped the plate in her hand and crashed to her knees as tears wracked through her body. She clung to the edge of the sink to catch her but Danny was first. His arms wrapped around his baby sister in a way he hadn't had to do in years. She shook in his arms as ugly tears streamed down her face. Andy wrapped soapy hands around his shoulders and buried her face into his chest. Her nails grabbed his shirt for stability and Danny just held onto her for dear life. Almost as though she would slip into a puddle if he even let go of her for a second. Danny pressed a kiss into her hair and whispered softly into her brown hair, "It's okay... It's going to be okay."

Andy cried for two or three hours. Sometimes her tears would subside into silent tearful breathes before she broke into another set of sobs. Eventually Andy was laying on the kitchen floor with her head in Danny lap as he leaned his back against the fridge. Every now and then another member of the family would come by in an effort to get her to speak. Erin sat next to Danny and held her hand a few times to which Andy mustered a reassuring squeeze. Jaime tried his best by telling her bad jokes and pretending that he was gonna get whoever hurt her locked up by some code of the law. She smiled a little. Joe was the only one who laid down next to her and Danny's leg on the kitchen floor in silence. He watched her and held her hand with a reassuring smile. Almost as though he was making her a promise just between the two of them.

Whatever that promise was- it made Andy stop crying.

Eventually, she sat up off of Danny's leg. He let out a silent moan of relief just in time for their father to walk into the kitchen. He looked down at Andy with a smile, "Do I need to sit on the floor too?"

Andy took a deep breathe before shaking her head. Danny helped her on to her feet and gave a nod to his father like some sort of changing of the guard. Andy caught a glance of herself in a passing mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot red and puffed form the crying. Her gaze held itself in the mirror. Andy felt a slight feeling of shame that she broke down in the family kitchen like this.

Once Danny left, it was just her and her dad standing in the kitchen. He looked at her with that gruff bulldog mug of his. No disappointment in eyes, Andy knew what disappointment looked like. This was only sadness. Her father raised both hands and used both thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks. He then swung an arm over Andy's shoulders and guided her towards the living room and put her on the couch. Most of the family had left by that point. Her grandfather was in the sitting room listening closely. Danny sat on the stairs patiently but Linda and the boys had already left.

It was just Andy and Frank left now.

They sat together on the couch. Andy couldn't help the smile when she sunk into the cushions at her fathers weight. Her leaned into his side and pulled her legs up into chest with her knees tucked underneath her chin. Frank's arm remained wrapped around his daughter. He looked over at her with a sigh, "So... are you ready to talk about it now."

"He said...." Andy took a small breathe, "He said he didn't want me to be a war widow at 22. That he wouldn't be able to leave knowing that I was here waiting for him to come back.... so he's leaving me..." She let out a harsh exhale. Andy buried her face into her hands, "He's leaving me- Mike is leaving me, dad. Mike broke off the engagement." She was wringing the diamond ring on her left hand. Her dazed off stare returning as she thought about how she was going to manage to return the ring.

She couldn't keep it. It belonged to his grandmother.

Michael "Mike" Dodds proposed to Andy Reagan two years after the she graduated from Columbia. They met while he was working in the Anti-Crime Unit and working the New Year's Eve Drop in Times Square. Perp stole her purse- Mike got it back - Andy rewarded him with a NYE kiss. Sweet, simple and madly in love was about as complicated as the story gets with them- and frankly that was what Andy wanted. She wanted simple, passionate, and wonderful love. With Mike, that's what she got. That is until about this morning when he put his foot down over the phone and told Andy that he was leaving and he refused to waste her time waiting for him to come back.

Frank clapped his fingers together and pressed his lips in a tight purse. "Do you want me to have him arrested?"

Andy let out a laugh. "No. But thank you for offering." She pressed her knuckles to her lips, "I just wish I knew what to do. Two days ago I was engaged and now I'm not and the love of my life is going overseas to risk his life and I don't even know if he's going to come back..." Tears began to cloud her voice again as those dark thoughts crept in.

"I made it back..."

Andy looked up at her father.

"Your brother Danny made it back, Joe made it back, and even your grandfather made it. Plenty of brave men and women leave this country and come back. Some of them worse for wear but a good bit of them brave and in one piece... and if I may be so bold..." He paused with a smile, "Mike is a warrior and I've seen it through and through with him. He'll come back."

Andy took in a few deep breathes, she pushed her hair back with a groan, "God I hope so... but I don't even know if I remember what New York City looks like without him..."

Frank offered Andy his hand, "Then I'll remind you... one block at a time."


	2. New York City Remembers

Five years had gone by and Andy Reagan still wasn't used to the feeling of her finger without a ring. Things had changed and her life went on without the presence of Mike Dodds in her day to day. Andy took the time to study culinary after Mike left. She now owned her own restaurant as chef and taught classes at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park. She adopted a dog named Fredrick. Her father became Police Commissioner. Her brother Joe died. She started seeing an FBI Agent....

Andy's life went on after Michael Dodds.

The young chef was currently flipping eggs on a skillet pan. She was in her state of the art kitchen in lace panties and a shirt she stole from the man in her bed. Her attention was focused to the food on the stove. Sunny side up was always her speciality and a morning favorite. Andy loved watching the shades of yellow shift from raw to cooked as the smell of salt and pepper permeated the egg. Cooking, to Andy, was more of an art form than a skill. It took time and patience to perfect every dish. It wasn't a race to the finish and some lesson to perfect. Every dish was made different and there was no version of a glass wall of perfection. You could suppose that's why Andy loved it so much - there was no limit of what you could do with it.

"What are you making?" A voice hummed as arms wrapped around her waist and a foreign pair of lips leaned down to press a kiss to the bottom of her jawline. Andy's lips lifted into a small smirk as delicate kisses were pressed against the length of her neck. The body around her slipped a hand down to her stomach, dipping into the waistband of panties as the culprit was clearly looking to distract her from breakfast for a different sort of wake up call.

Andy let out a laugh as she batted at the hands around her waist, "Hey!" She giggled, leaning into the man's lips, "No distracting the chef at the stove! You're gonna start a fire."

The man grumbled his joking discontent into her skin before he gave her a small nip on the shoulder and changed direction for the coffee, "I like your eggs. Mmmm but I love your coffee." He hummed on the other corner of the kitchen. Andy glanced over her shoulder to the man standing in her kitchen. His name was Aaron Hotchner and he worked at Quantico in the BAU- the full name faded in an out every now and then. She met him when his brother, Sean, came to work at her restaurant in Tribeca. Sean's food was great, but his worth ethic was terrible. On the bright side, his brother was a cutie.

Aaron was an older, emotionally unavailable widow with a toddler son that demanded all of his days off 90% of the time so Andy only got the pleasure of his company every few weeks. Fortunately, that suited her just fine. Even after five years, there wasn't a single part of her ready to hear anyone tell her "I love you". She enjoyed the fact that Aaron had enough strings to keep him coming back to her and enough strings to keep him away when she wanted to be alone. He was the perfect fuck and the perfect forget-me-not.

He was hot. He was sweet. He was incredible in bed. He was Andy's perfect **Mr.Right Now**.

"You seeing a Police Officer too?"

Andy spun around to look at a shirtless a SSA Aaron Hotchner looking at a very elegant red invitation on top of Andy's mail. It was an invitation to the Annual Police Christmas Gala for the High Brass and their friends, family, and guests. An invitation was a high priced commodity to come by and not something you'd expect to be in the possession of a civilian chef- despite, how popular she happened to be in the culinary world.

A smirk tugged up at the corner of her lips, "That was cute. Acting like you don't already know everything me..." Andy flashed Aaron a smile over her shoulder, "Mr.Profiler."

One of Andy's favorite things about fucking an FBI Agent was that he was a certified and qualified profiler. He could walk into a room and already be up to date one whatever changed since his last visit. He didn't need to ask the complicated questions because he knew the answers when she avoided a question about her family or refused to explain the stupid paper heart framed on her wall. He read her like an open book which made it easier for her not to share.

Aaron smirked, "I was being polite." He poured himself a cup of black coffee before taking a long sip with a smile. "So... **are** you seeing a police officer?"

Andy offered him a side eye with a smile, "I'm going as my father's date. It's a small tradition we've been doing since my mother died and...." Andy dropped off for a second. Her eyes flickered to the eggs in the pan as the memory of a man with brown hair fluttered into thoughts. "Yeah. Since my mom died- I'm my dad's plus one."

Andy didn't talk about Mike- not with Aaron and not with anyone. The first year he was gone, everything reminded her of him. She couldn't take one step in the city without missing the feeling of Mike's hands in hers as they hopped onto the subway. She missed the stupid Chinese place he dragged her to every Wednesday night. Hell, Andy even missed the way he hailed a taxi. But as time went on, New York City started to remind Andy of what it really was... the city of new beginnings and throw away memories. 

However, this new beginning still wasn't ready to talk about her last one. For all intents and purposes, Michael Dodds was gone. She didn't know where or when he was and frankly as far as anyone was concerned - she didn't give a single damn about it either.

Andy spun on her heels and plucked the invitation from Aaron's hand. She threw it on the counter behind him and leaned into his bare chest, "And no. I'm not seeing a police officer, Agent Hotchner."

Aaron grinned as Andy wrapped one arm around his waist as she pulled him closer and tangled her free hand into his short locks of brown hair. Aaron picked her up with a one arm grab and put her on the counter top, wrapping her legs around him as they lips collided in a messy, morning breath kiss. Aaron's lips slipped over Andy's with ease and pleasure. His hand slid down the outside of her thighs, grabbing the supple skin of her ass with a gentle squeeze which emitted a moan of pleasure from Andy's lips. He then moved down to press kisses against the length of Andy's neck starting from the base of her collar bone all the way up to her ear where he nibbled the lobe with a gentle smirk that Andy could feel against her cheek. His breathe tickled the inside of her ear while one of his hands grabbed her ass, his nails digging with a delicious combination of pleasure and pain. Aaron leaned in with a smile.

"Your eggs are burning, Andy."

"FUCK!!"

* * *

Andy's restaurant resided in a refurbished warehouse at the center of Tribeca. She bought it in 2008 when a murder basically knocked the building value down to nothing. She cheated a little, catching a picture of the building in one of Danny's files on his desk. In her defense, she just happened to see it after bringing him some lunch.

Technically, she was just trying to be nice when she visited him that day. The property was just an extra perk.

Andy put in an offer for the building two weeks after Danny solved the case. No surprise, they sold it to her almost immediately and Andy started setting up shop at once. One month later she had a soft opening and they've been up and running ever since. The restaurant was remodeled out of the husk of an old cotton warehouse. The bones were still good and the wood beams added rustic character to the place. Luckily for Andy, her food and restaurant reviews were so good - the murder _rumors_ went up in smoke. All that was left was a house of good food and good beer.

"Was that FBI Aaron dropping you off at the door before dinner service?" Martin, Andy's sous chef, asked as he dropped a tray of fresh dinner loaves in front of her. The smell wafted through the air and begged for hot butter to be dripped all over them.

Andy's eyes immediately rolled at Martin's comments. "Maybe." She hummed. Her main focus on plating rice bun soft-shelled turtle burger- the special of the day. "He's just a friend Martin. Don't worry about it."

Martin let out a wry grin, "A friend who sleeps in your bed?" The tease was edging in his voice. Martin was a glutton for good gossip and his boss' love life seemed to be the soup of the day.

Andy laughed, "A friend whose son was on a boy scout camping trip this week so he came up to New York for a good fuck." She hummed dryly. In truth, Andy didn't think so bluntly on her feelings of Aaron but she had no intention of being so sentimental for a fuck buddy.

Martin let out a loud groan, "UUUUUUGGGHH- Have I taught you nothing?" He threw up flour covered hands in exasperation, "You don't fuck the smart, handsome, single father who fucks you and then walks you to work, Andy. THAT is not your fuck buddy."

"Oh then what is it?"

"That's your boyfriend- or at least he should be!" Martin let out another huff of annoyance, "Do you know anything other than he has a son and he's an FBI agent?"

Andy smirked, "He's got a big dick and is a trained sniper."

Martin deadpanned, "You- **missy** \- are the type of woman who misses a perfect love right in front of her."

"He's also emotionally unavailable, Martin. About as unavailable as I'm about to be." She hummed- stepping away to wipe her hands on her apron, "I'm taking rounds- butter the buns and send them out." Andy spun around, unbuttoning her chef's coat and hanging it on a hook next to the dining room entrance. It was customary for her to take a round around the dining room halfway through dinner service. She always went for a sensual but professional look.

Tonight Andy opted for a sleeveless black turtle neck crop top, a high waist tan straight leg khakis, with white heels and a gold necklace. Andy's hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail wrapped in a golden band that matched her necklace with lips painted a dark shade of red. She was taught early on in culinary school to look good on her rounds. She was the face of the restaurant and her demeanor and personality determined the success of that night's service. Food tastes better when you like the person who cooked it - and that's just face.

Andy pushed through the swinging double doors only to immediately collide into her niece, Nicky, "Mother F- Frisbee.. Mother Frisbee." Andy massaged her shoulder where Nicky's forehead collided with it. Her other hand rubbing Nicky's forehead for good measure. "What are you doing standing in the doorway, kid? You finish your homework?"

Nicky winced slightly, "Sorry Aunt Andy. I was waiting for you and I know I'm not allowed in the kitchen."

Andy smiled kindly. Nicky usually came over to the restaurant and did her homework in the back. During the dinner rush, Andy usually insist that she **stay** there to avoid any unnecessary collisions. But then again, Andy would never be described as the strict Auntie. "Don't worry about it, Nicky. What's up?" 

"There's this couple looking for you. They said they're a friend of grandpa's?"

"So a police officer official." Andy laughed, "Can you point them out to me?"

Nicky spun around looking for a moment before she pointed out with a finger at an older couple sitting next to the windows. The man's attention was caught and he looked over at Andy and Nicky with a grin. The man immediately raised an arm and waved widely with a smile - obviously excited to see Andy's face.

Andy- however- looked like she had seen a ghost. All the blood drained out of her face and it felt as though her heart just dropped out of her ass.

The last thing she was prepared to see tonight was William and Ingrid Dodds- Mike's parents.


	3. Dreams from the Clouds

The bed was too soft.

Mike tossed and turned on the cloud like cushions in his mother's guest room. They felt so soft- a part of him felt as though he was going to fall right through the mattress until he was sleeping on the ground. However, that feeling might be preferable to this cloud-like hell. Mike was just laying in bed- incredibly uncomfortable as he counted the ceiling tiles of the room- hoping it would somehow lull him to sleep.

He had only been back in town for two weeks since he retired from the army. Five full tours in Special Forces and a medal or two pinned to his ass was all he brought home with him. His father insisted that Mike rejoin the police force with him as soon as possible. Of course, he would ramble on about how Mike needed a little bit of time but he'd get him back on his feet in no time. William Dodds' favorite pass time was talking over his son and talking about his five year plan.

Christ - Mike didn't even know how to get past the next five days, never mind five years.

Finally he gave up and hoped that some water would get him to bed. Worst came to worst- he'll just drop a pillow onto the floor and get some sleep there. He hobbled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Mike felt a small feeling of delight to find that while his mother remodeled the house- the water glasses could still be found in the same place.

Mike groggily filled the cup with tap water when a magazine caught his eye. A magazine that made his heart stop in its place. 

Andy Reagan in a shimmering gold dress on the cover of _Bon Appétit_ with a beaming smile, long brown hair, and a silver fork and spoon in her hand. The headline - **New York's Shiny New Chef, Andrea Reagan- Bringing the Exotic to Tribeca**. Mike's heart swelled at the sight of that smile. He hadn't seen it in person in five years and it wasn't till now that he couldn't silently admit just how much he missed it.

"Mikey!"

Mike jumped as the front door opened with a series of loud clatters. His parents were beaming as they returned from their dinner out together. Mike had been invited but he opted out for some good sleep instead. His father had a beaming smile on his face as came over and hugged his son with a laugh, "Mikey. You'll never believe who we saw at dinner tonight."

Mike offered his father a good natured smile, "No, dad. Who did you see?"

"Andy!" his father exclaimed, "Chief Commissioner Moore suggested _'Anavrin'_ so I just thought- I gotta take Ingrid there. Right?" His father looked absolutely befuddled as to what had occurred that night, "And so I look over and I see Nicky Reagan doing her homework at the table behind me. And I'm like- what's Frank Reagan's granddaughter doing down here? So I wave her down and ask her what she's doing here. Turns out! Andy Reagan is the owner and chef at Anavrin! What a coincidence, right?" He let out a loud laugh at the seemingly ridiculousness of the situation, "Gosh! We haven't seen her since-"

"Since I broke her heart and left for the army." Mike interrupted with a blunt finish to his father's sentence. His blood was practically boiling at that point. "Thanks for that reminder dad." He grabbed the magazine off the kitchen counter and stormed back to the guest room where he was staying. He slammed the door with a thunderous crack- silently cursing the glass of water he left in the kitchen.

Mike then made his way over to the bed and flicked on the lamp for a reading light. He sat on the bed and stared at the magazine in his hands. His ex-fiancé smiled back at him from the cover, basking in the success she achieved in his absence. But Mike was smart enough to know that her success had nothing to do with him.

For the rest of the night, he flipped through the pages of the magazine reading and rereading the same ten pages describing Andy's rise to culinary fame in the past five years. He smiled at the pictures of her cutting the ribbon at her restaurant in Tribeca and posing with her family at the center of Manhattan. He huffed softly when he read that her father had risen through the ranks to Police Commissioner. She wasn't just the granddaughter of the PC- now she was the daughter of another one. 

Mike laughed every time they used the name Andrea in the article. He imagined how annoyed she must've been to have to read her christian name so many times. He could hear her now - _No one calls me Andrea- and it's such a pretentious name. Andy! Just call me Andy!_

The imagined sound of her voice was like a dream and his heart ached at the mere thought of her. 

Andy broke Mike's heart five years ago- but in all fairness, that was only after he broke hers first. She had begged him not to go. The two of them had argued about it over and over for about two months. His father had put the idea in his head and insisted it on him until Mike caved in. It's one of his greatest mistakes.

Mike went to sleep with that magazine open on his chest. The only thing helping him sleep? The fact that Andy Reagan was still happy- even after he decimated her heart.

Mike did everything to break her heart so that she would leave him. He convinced her that he didn't want her to wait for him to come back when that was the only thing he wanted. However, Mike knew that the pain she would experience from him dying overseas would be unbearable compared to the small pain of him breaking off their engagement indefinitely.

He didn't want to do it. But every night until he made the decision, Mike had reoccurring nightmares. All he could imagine was Andy crying as an air force carrier unloaded a casket holding whatever was left of his body from the battlefield. A flag covering his casket and handed to his sobbing fiancé. Mike was haunted by the sobbing image of the woman he loved. He would wake up in a cold sweat with tears streaming down his face and a scream on his lips. 

He loves her. Right her, right now. He always has and always will.... but Mike knew that Andy never wanted to see him again. She had made that fact quite clear when she threw her engagement ring at his face. 

Frankly, Mike was surprised that Danny didn't show up a few days later to kill him.

* * *

The next morning his father was waiting for him at the dining table. He opened his mouth pouring out echoes upon echoes of apologies for bringing up his son's ex-fiancé last night. Mike, however, was a little too tired to hear it. So he simply just smiled and reassured his dad that everything was okay. Mike didn't want to bring up the fact that Andy's face was strategically placed on the kitchen counter where he could see it. He also didn't want to bring up the fact that the only reason his father wanted him to even see Andy again - was because her father was the new PC.

Mike didn't want to hear anything about Andy... because he knew she didn't want to hear anything about him. He wasn't being bitter or spiteful- but Mike also didn't want to be the creepy ex that hung onto the woman he dumped because he can't get past her. Especially when, based on her gorgeous smile in that article, she had obviously moved on without him.

He needed to pick up his pieces on his own this time. This was the cross he chose and he could bear it all on his own.

"So...I know you just got back from overseas but you've been resting your laurels for two weeks. I took the liberty of getting you reinstated with the force - **luckily** Frank Reagan is great about separating his personal and professional life otherwise-" Dodds Sr. stopped short realizing that he was bringing up again.

Mike was glaring at him from across the table, silently praying for his father to get to the point as soon as possible.

"Anyways!" His father shook his head with a chuckle, "You been reinstated to your original rank of Sergeant with placement at Manhattan SVU."

Mike choked on his coffee, "Isn't that precinct under you?"

"One of them." His father hummed - trying to pull off a perfect poker face, "Their sergeant just got promoted and I need a bit of a hand in controlling them."

Mike closed his eyes in a deep exhale, "So you're sending me there to... what? Keep an eye on them?"

"No." His father smiled with a shake of the head, "Just helping you get your foot in the door, Mikey."

It was a strange tension between them. Mike felt as though he was being offered this position on the expectation that he'd be his father's agent. His father was a cautious one and if things were happening under his nose that he didn't like then he'd find a way to get in. Mike was that way in.

Frankly, the entire situation put a bad taste in his mouth but he had been loafing around his parent's house for two weeks apartment searching. Having something to do during the day and a place to stay would be nice.

"Also."

Mike's hand shot up out of instinct to catch the pair of keys being thrown at his head.

"An apartment in Tribeca - fully furnished by your mother. I took the liberty of making the purchase when you announced you were coming back."

"Dad-!" Mike's eyes widened in shock, "I can't take this!"

"It's conditional!" His father interrupted with a smile, "You've gotta come to the Christmas Police Gala with me and your mother at the end of this week. And I suggest you dress nice. A little birdie told me that your exfiancé was going to be there."

"Mother fu-"


End file.
